Ron Johnson

Democrat lawmakers are just focused on winning elections and couldn't "care less about the American public," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Newsmax on Wednesday.

Appearing on "Wake Up America," Johnson accused Democrats of obstructing Republican efforts to fund key government agencies, secure the border and keep the government operating.

The senator's comments came after Congress approved a $70 billion reconciliation package that will fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through fiscal year 2029.

The bill is expected to be signed by President Donald Trump.

Johnson argued Democrats bear responsibility for months of uncertainty surrounding border-security funding.

"They are the ones that refused to fund CBP and ICE," Johnson told co-hosts Sharla McBride and Marc Lotter. "They opened up the borders, allowed millions of people to flood this country completely unvetted — drug traffickers, human traffickers, members of incredibly violent gangs."

While Republicans are already discussing the possibility of a third reconciliation package, Johnson warned that Democrat opposition in the Senate could once again force lawmakers to rely on the budget process to advance key priorities.

"Democrats now are basically obstructing a normal appropriations process," he said. "If we're going to keep the government open, we'll probably have to do [reconciliation again]."

Johnson pointed to the Senate filibuster as a major obstacle, noting Republicans still need Democrat cooperation to advance most legislation.

"As long as you have that 60-vote threshold, we need the cooperation of seven Democrats, and we just simply aren't getting it," he said.

The senator predicted Democrats could once again push the government toward a shutdown as spending battles intensify this fall, particularly over defense funding.

"Democrats vote block," Johnson said. "Again, they couldn't care less about the pain they're causing by creating this chaos, being so obnoxiously obstructionist."

Johnson argued the strategy is politically motivated.

"They want to create chaos because they want to win elections," he said. "They couldn't care less about the American public. They couldn't care less about the pain they cause through their chaos by not cooperating."

Republicans have increasingly turned to reconciliation — which allows certain budget-related legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority — to bypass Democrat opposition and advance Trump's agenda.

Johnson said he would prefer using future reconciliation efforts not only to fund government operations but also to reduce federal spending.

"I would love to use reconciliation for a return to a reasonable pre-pandemic level spending," he said. "That ought to be our focus."

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